Archos entering portable gaming industry with the GamePad

Archos, historically being a smaller player in the mobile communications industry, is taking another leap towards making a mark with their latest release.

Started out quite a few years ago, Archos began making portable electronics using Google's open source Android platform. From the Archos 5, running their own custom operating system, to the next generation internet tablet version running the earliest Android operating system, Archos has come a long way in making tablets. They originally started off with 5 inch tablets, then moving onto 7 inches, 9 inches, and 10.1 inches almost copying Samsung's technique of experimenting with different screen sizes. Archos' success mainly stayed within Europe, but they are currently facing very heavy competition. Once a $60 per share (JXR) stock price is now approximately $5 per share due to the rise of other technology companies including Apple, Samsung, and even Nintendo. However, there's still hope as Archos is expanding faster than you think. At the CES2013, Archos unveiled a rather interesting concept. Historically known to make tablets, Archos introduced a handheld gaming device aimed at delivering a better Android gaming experience. Touch screens offer many limitations especially associated with first person shooter or joystick navigation controlled. The Archos GamePad aims to solve this problem by integrating physical keys and two joysticks at the side of a 7 inch screen. At a first glance, the tech specs are quite impressive with a 7 inch capacitive touch screen, 1.6 GHz dual core CPU, quad core graphics, 1080p HD video, and wifi support. The full technical specifications can be viewed through their official site. The GamePad aims not only to be a portable gaming solution, but a heavy duty tablet as well. This device is designed not only to run games, but also give face to face communication, multimedia streaming, cross console display, surf the web, and more. DVICE provides a brief review of the console:

It's plastic construction leaves much to be desired and its display has poor viewing angles from the sides and isn't nearly as crisp as the company's other tablets. We also found the buttons and dual analog nubs to be rather stiff, which made fast-paced first-person shooting mobile games such as Dead Trigger even more imprecise than with touchscreen controls. Although the physicals aren't as appealing, the software behind it is. Archos implemented a feature allowing any on screen button to be re-mapped and assigned to one of the physical keys, which significantly increases the number of games/ applications that can be run. For an expected price of $170, it sure gives Sony's Playstation Portable (PSP) and the Playstation Vita a run for their money.